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The e-filing of affidavits introduced for the first time in this Lok Sabha election has been a hit among candidates as more than 1,800 registrations have been received by the Election Commission till now.
Officials said a total of 1,885 registrations have been made on the various e-portals of state poll bodies and 214 candidates have already filed and submitted their statements of assets and liabilities online.
"It is well expected that the final e-filing registration would cross the 2,000 mark. The experiment has been successful and the initiative would be implemented in the polls that take place in the future," a senior official said.
The affidavits (Form 26) are supposed to be furnished by the candidates at the time of filing of their nomination for contesting a Parliamentary or an Assembly seat.
The e-filing of affidavits has been introduced as it allowed an error-free and user-friendly filing of data by a candidate in the electoral race.
A regular affidavit filed by a candidate includes his personal information like details of assets (including movable and immovable properties), properties and accounts under his or her name in a foreign land, liabilities of the candidate, name of the spouse and dependants, educational qualifications and criminal antecedents, if any.
The filing of the affidavit is a mandatory exercise notified by the EC under the Representation of People Act and if it is not done correctly, the Returning Officer has the powers to reject a nomination after which a candidate cannot participate in the election.
The e-filing facility, however, is only optional for candidates this time as it was thought that a number of tech-savvy candidates are entering the poll fray and it could be introduced as a test case.
